| The Middle East – Blood Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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What do people make of the pronouns used in the last verse? “It was...” “That got...” Both of these refer to the grandmother but for some reason “she” isn’t used. Also, the use of that makes it grammatically sound like this was the only woman he ever loved that got burned by the sun etc... as if he’s loved multiple women and this one just happened to be the one who got sunburnt a lot. I obviously don’t think that’s what they were going for, so I’m wondering if it’s a mistake. |
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| The Middle East – Blood Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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@[impairingheard:33171] Although loss of the sister would complete the theme of female family being lost, I believe it is the restless brother who is gone. The word “lie” is used twice when referring to him and seems to imply burial given the association with earth. Moreover, the length/growth of his hair/beard seems to allude to the common misconception that these continue to grow post mortem—an illusion of life created by the decay of surrounding tissues. This creates a dichotomy between the sister’s memory of her brother’s appearance in life and the paradox of a newfound restlessness in both her grief and in death; a synecdoche of his former self, his hair cannot quite fill the space between then. This hope that someday this sense of distance can be bridged is the denial before her acceptance, the limbo she alone can cross. She wakes up amidst objects that no longer serve her, their value lost with her brother. As with the other verses, the final line resonates with acceptance as she finally “lays” him aside. This reprises the burial motif and suggests that she has been empowered by having now figuratively buried him. She can reclaim her life now that she has come to terms his death and all that was lost with it. |
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